Spiced like a mug of hot cider and covered in snowy powdered sugar, these Spiced Cider Meltaways are the perfect cookie to leave for Santa.

I’ve been experimenting with apple cider flavored cookies for while. It all started when I spied an apple cider cookie recipe that was going around online that used powdered cider mix. I love the idea of a cookie that tastes like apple cider, but wanted to use good old fashioned, no preservative cider out of the jug. Adding extra liquid to a cookie, though, can be tricky business.

I tried chewy cookies that came out cakey.

And cakey cookies that turned out hard.

Nothing was right… until these tasty bites.

Of course! Meltaways, which often call for liquid for flavor (e.g., lime or lemon meltaways made with fresh lime or lemon juice), are the perfect cookie to flavor with cider.

This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Buttered Rum Meltaways (which also sound great, but are more for mama than kiddo and Santa!).

Spiced Cider Meltaways

Makes 4 dozen

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup apple cider

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a bowl. Put butter and 1/3 cup sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in cider and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Divide dough in half. Place each half on a piece of parchment paper and shape dough into 1 1/4-inch-thick logs. Wrap each log in parchment and chill in freezer for 30 minutes (or store wrapped dough in freezer bags for up to 1 month).

Stacie Billis is a food writer, recipe developer and blogger at One Hungry Mama. As a mother of two hungry boys, she knows that kids change the way we cook, but they don't have to change how well we eat. Selfish? Sure, but it turns out that feeding kids the good foods we enjoy is the best way to inspire healthy habits for life. Knowing this, Stacie is putting her MA in child development, experience developing an organic family food brand and passion for delicious food to good use as a galvanizing voice for parents in the food revolution. You can also find Stacie as One Hungry Mama on Twitter and Facebook.